Computer Adaptive Assessment Project


Objective
Project Outline
Participants
 
Computer Adaptive Assessment


What is CAA?
Benefits
How does CAA work?
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FAQs
Glossary
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FAQs

  1. What is Computer Adaptive Assessment (CAA)?
  2. How does CAA differ from paper-and-pencil testing?
  3. What are the potential benefits of Computer Adaptive Assessment?
  4. Where are Computer Adaptive Assessment systems currently being used?
  5. What is the purpose of the Alberta CAA project?
  6. What research or literature exists to support a move by Alberta Education to proceed with building a CAA system?
  7. When will students be able to take the Alberta CAA?
  8. What are the anticipated benefits of CAA for the learning system?
  9. What will be required of my school authority if I decide to participate in the CAA initiative?
  10. How will the CAA initiative be funded?
  11. Who will be involved in the development and review of the items that compose the CAA item banks?
  12. How will the Alberta CAA system be developed and implemented?
  13. What professional development activities will be developed to support teachers involved in the initiative?
  14. To what curricula will the CAA items be aligned?
  15. How can teachers use the CAA system to help them identify curricular areas that a student is struggling with?
  16. CAA dynamically selects items for each examinee. How can you ensure the assessment represents the Alberta Education curriculum when each examinee receives a different set of items?
  17. How do we know if the results of the CAA system are valid and reliable?
  18. Will the testing-on-demand attribute of a CAA system lead to the same assessment items being so frequently administered that the assessment is compromised?
  19. How will CAA assessment items be renewed to ensure currency and relevance?
  20. What technology is required at the school level in order to participate in the CAA project?
  21. Where will students take the Computer Adaptive Assessment?
  22. How can you ensure that assessments delivered over the Internet will be secure?
  23. How will the security of student information be ensured?
  24. How can CAA be used to complement other classroom assessment strategies?
  25. How will CAA improve or enhance teacher access to assessment materials?
  26. Will students receive instruction on how to use the CAA system?
  27. Are students required to solve all test items in the CAA?
  28. How many assessment items will be administered in the CAA?
  29. Can CAA be used to assess students with special needs?
  30. How will the field be involved in decision making regarding the future of CAA in Alberta schools?

Introduction to Computer Adaptive Assessment

1. What is Computer Adaptive Assessment (CAA)?
Computer Adaptive Assessment (CAA), also referred to as Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT), is an innovative form of assessment in which an examinee is presented with test items in a sequence that is dependent on the correctness of the response to the previous item. Through this process, each examinee is administered a unique set of test items that provides an accurate measure of his or her achievement level. Items are selected from an item bank of developed, reviewed, and field-tested assessment items specific to a course and grade. This process of selecting and administering items continues until the CAA system reaches a pre-specified level of accuracy for an estimate of the student's achievement level. A score is then immediately produced for the examinee and detailed reports are produced.

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2. How does CAA differ from paper-and-pencil testing?
CAA differs from paper-and-pencil tests in a number of important ways. For example, rather than having all examinees writing the same test with the same number of items, each examinee is administered a unique set of items, tailored to his or her specific achievement level. This approach to test administration offers a challenging yet fair assessment experience for every student. Examinees at a low achievement level are not required to respond to items that are difficult and beyond their achievement level, thus reducing potentially negative psychological effects (e.g., examinees becoming despondent or experiencing test anxiety). Similarly, examinees at a high achievement level are not required to answer items that are too simple for them, thus reducing the potential for boredom.

The main benefit of CAA versus paper-and-pencil tests for low- and high-ability students is that more information can be obtained on these students because they are administered more items targeted to their ability. Typically, examinees who take a CAA assessment require comparatively fewer items to obtain an equivalent or more reliable measure of their ability than if they had taken a traditional paper-and-pencil test. For example, Dr. Howard Wainer, distinguished research scientist at the National Board of Medical Examiners, reported that CAA requires, on average, about 60% of the items needed on a comparable paper-and-pencil test to achieve the same level of score precision (Wainer, 2000). Therefore, for most examinees, the test becomes noticeably shorter and testing time is reduced.

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3. What are the potential benefits of Computer Adaptive Assessment?

  1. Testing efficiency is enhanced in that fewer items are typically required to obtain similar or better measurement accuracy, especially for students at high or low achievement levels.
  2. In most cases, test-taking time is reduced.
  3. Testing on demand is possible; it enables teachers to better track student progress and develop individualized program plans.
  4. Test-taking frustration for students is reduced.
  5. The potential for immediate test scoring and reporting becomes possible.
  6. There is greater flexibility in test item formats (e.g., using video clips or interactive items) as well as in delivering sets of items (i.e., testlets).
  7. There is greater precision in the measurement of a student’s achievement level.
  8. There is greater score standardization, which allows scores to be compared at multiple test-taking periods.
  9. Integrating field-test items (experimental items that do not yet have statistical information associated with them) into a CAA system allows for the fast and efficient collection of item statistics necessary to enhance/replenish item banks. As a result, field-testing and operational testing are an integrated process, which reduces test development, administration, and scoring costs.

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4. Where are Computer Adaptive Assessment systems currently being used?
A number of operational CAA programs exist in North America, including the following examples.

  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Licensing Examination
  • American Society of Clinical Pathologists Board of Registry Certification Examinations
  • The United States Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
  • The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS)
  • Graduate Record Examination, administered by ETS
  • Measures of Academic Progress, developed by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)
  • Microsoft Certified Professional Exams
  • North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination, developed by the US National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP)
  • National Council Licensure Examinations, developed by the US National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)
  • The Medical Council of Canada Licensing Examinations

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Alberta Computer Adaptive Assessment project

Overview

5. What is the purpose of the Alberta CAA project?
The purpose of the Alberta CAA project is to determine the efficacy of providing Alberta teachers with an on-demand, curriculum-specific, online assessment tool to aid in the teaching and learning processes. It is anticipated that the CAA system will provide a number of benefits to students and teachers; for example, assessments can be conducted a number of times during the school year with instant reports generated, and teachers can use the CAA system to assess student progress throughout the year (formative) as well as student performance at the end of a course (summative). Teachers will decide if and how to use CAA to complement other classroom assessment methods.

As one of many assessment strategies, teachers can use the CAA system to evaluate student progress and identify areas of strength and weakness. The Alberta CAA project is NOT intended to add to or replace currently administered provincial standardized tests such as the grades 3, 6, and 9 achievement tests or the Grade 12 diploma examinations.

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6. What research or literature exists to support a move by Alberta Education to proceed with building a CAA system?
Research and academic literature generally promote CAA as a valid and reliable method of assessment with significant benefits to students, teachers, and other educational stakeholders. CAA is not without its challenges, such as the statistical complexity required to calibrate items and equate results over time, the development of item banks of sufficient size to be effective in assessing student achievement, and technology issues such as sufficient bandwidth requirements to ensure equivalent test-taking experiences for all students. Solutions to these and other challenges exist and are presented in the academic literature; these will be considered and incorporated into the Alberta CAA system.

The Alberta CAA initiative has the benefit of a technical advisory committee composed of international experts in the field of CAA with experience in the design, development, and implementation of high-stakes, large-scale CAA systems. This team includes Dr. Mark Gierl (distinguished professor at the University of Alberta who currently holds the Canada Research Chair in Educational Measurement), Dr. Tom Maguire (Professor Emeritus of the University of Alberta and psychometric consultant in the development of the Medical Council of Canada CAA), and Dr. Michael Jodoin (Development Scientist with Educational Testing Services).

The benefits of technology-assisted assessment, and specifically CAA, have been documented in a number of academic and non-academic sources. The TASA (Technology Assisted Student Assessment) Institute, a non-profit Canadian education research agency, offers a number of publications on their web site that outline the benefits of computer-based and computer-adaptive assessment methods (http://www.tasainstitute.com).

An excellent source for academic research in the area of CAA is the “CAT Central: A global resource for Computer Adaptive Testing Research and Applications” web site (http://www.psych.umn.edu/psylabs/CATCentral/). The site contains information regarding the theory, issues, and challenges of CAA as well as a massive bibliography of academic references that cover most aspects of CAA.

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7. When will students be able to take the Alberta CAA?
The Alberta CAA system will allow students to take assessments at multiple times during the school year; in other words, on demand. Teachers would schedule a suitable time for their student(s) to take a CAA. For example, when a student moves from another school partway through the school year, the teacher could schedule a CAA to assess the student’s progress in a course so that the teacher is better able to design an appropriate instructional plan based on the student’s strengths and weaknesses. After several months of instruction or after a course unit has been taught, the teacher may decide to test the new student again using the CAA and thereby track the student’s progress.

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8. What are the anticipated benefits of CAA for the learning system?
There are many potential benefits of the CAA system to students, teachers, schools, and school authorities in Alberta. Teachers and students could benefit by having ongoing access to curriculum-specific assessment tools to identify areas of strength and weakness. Tracking their progress over time, students will be empowered to take measures to address areas of weakness in their learning and to celebrate their strengths. Teachers will have access to detailed yet understandable reports that clearly identify the progress of student learning and can use this information to modify instruction to reach students who are not grasping concepts.

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Implementation

9. What will be required of my school authority if I decide to participate in the CAA initiative?
School authorities can participate in the CAA project by having their students take computer-based and computer-adaptive assessments.

Access to the CAA system in the first and second year will be offered at no cost to school authorities. For the third year, school authorities may incur a portion of the cost, which would be shared with Alberta Education. For more information regarding participation please contact Dr. Jim Dueck: jim.dueck@gov.ab.ca

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10. How will the CAA initiative be funded?
Alberta Education will fund Year 1 and Year 2 of the initiative (with a possibility of funding being provided for Year 3 once budget allocations have been determined). Jurisdictions will provide support through involvement of their staff members and students. All education stakeholders involved in the initiative will offer advice and feedback with respect to the results of the CAA deliverables and the benefits derived for students.

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11. Who will be involved in the development and review of the items that compose the CAA item banks?
Experienced Alberta teachers will be involved in the development, review, and field-testing (validation) of all items used in the CAA system. Item development processes similar to those used by Alberta Education for the provincial testing programs will be implemented to ensure item quality (i.e., curricular alignment, relevance, currency, appropriateness, etc.). In addition, items will be systematically and periodically reviewed.

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12. How will the Alberta CAA system be developed and implemented?
Castle Rock Research will build a CAA system for Alberta that will be recognized worldwide for its innovative design, operation, and implementation. Further, the CAA system will conform to the highest standards of quality, security, efficiency, accuracy, and ease of implementation.

Year 1 will involve the design, development, and user acceptance of the computer-based and computer adaptive-testing assessment. These systems will be designed according to best practices in software development and psychometric standards (Association of Test Publishers, 2000; American Council on Education, 1985; American Educational Research Association, 1999) and with ongoing feedback from stakeholders (e.g., students, teachers, school administrators, and school authority administrators). The computer-based aspects of the system will allow for conventional testing (e.g., non-adaptive tests administered online) using a computer interface. This computer-based functionality will allow for the large-scale field testing of newly created items to obtain individual student responses. These results will then be used to generate item response theory (IRT) item- and ability-parameter estimates that will enable migration to the CAA. Computer test delivery will also allow for the future development of new modes of assessment that can include innovative item formats (i.e., use of sound, video, and graphics). In this way, infrastructure for the future direction of assessment can be established and developed over time (Hambleton, Jodoin, & Zenisky, in press; van der Linden & Glas, 2000; Wainer, 2000). In Year 1, computer-based field-testing of items in core subjects at a number of grades between 3 and 12 will be available. Detailed reports will be produced to provide feedback regarding areas of strength and weakness relative to the Alberta curriculum.

Year 2 will introduce the computer adaptive assessment aspects of the Alberta CAA system in specific core subject areas and grades (e.g., the courses and grades that were available in Year 1). The number of grades and courses available for computer-based assessment will be expanded in Year 2 in order to facilitate more courses and grades. Ongoing large-scale item development involving Alberta teachers will populate the substantial item banks required for CAA. Feedback from stakeholders in Year 1 will be used to make improvements to the Alberta CAA system as needed in Year 2.

In Year 3, will further expand the number of grades and courses will further expand so that assessment can occur at any grade from grade 3 to high school in the core subject areas of Mathematics, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science.

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13. What professional development activities will be developed to support teachers involved in the initiative?
This support resource document will provide initial background for all education stakeholders involved in the CAA initiative. In the future, professional development will be provided through school, jurisdiction, and Alberta Education information sessions. Online training will be provided for teachers and students with regard to the use of the CAA system, and information about the potential uses of the reports will be provided as the initiative evolves.

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Curriculum

14. To what curricula will the CAA items be aligned?
All items used in the CAA will be aligned to the Alberta Programs of Study and reviewed by experienced Alberta teachers. All items will be correlated to the appropriate general or specific outcome level and will be reviewed to ensure that content is current, relevant, and appropriate.

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15. How can teachers use the CAA system to help them identify curricular areas that a student is struggling with?
The CAA system will provide assessments at curricular strand/topic levels as well as at the overall course level. As such, a teacher could have students take the assessment for a specific strand/topic after having completed instruction for that unit. In this way, teachers will obtain information about how well the students attained the outcomes for that unit. At the end of a course, teachers can have students take the CAA for all units to determine which curricular areas students have mastered and which areas require further attention. Each item within the CAA item banks will be tied directly to the Alberta Programs of Study, and therefore will be associated with learning outcomes. Reports will provide information about which outcomes are associated with each item to which the student responded.

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16. CAA dynamically selects items for each examinee. How can you ensure that the assessment represents the Alberta Education curriculum when each examinee receives a different set of items?
The Alberta CAA system will ensure representative content coverage by incorporating content-balancing rules. Content balancing involves establishing rules for administering representative numbers of items from each curriculum category. For example, the Mathematics 30 Pure diploma examination contains items from six curriculum areas. The CAA assessment for Mathematics 30 Pure would also be required to contain a minimum number of items in each curriculum area, consistent with the percentage of the course dedicated to each curricular area. Each course at each grade will have different content balancing requirements based on its Program of Studies.

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Reliability and validity

17. How do we know if the results of the CAA system are valid and reliable?
The Alberta CAA system will be developed with input from Alberta teachers in all phases of the project. Clear design specifications will be implemented to ensure that items are created using the highest international standards. Psychometric review and analysis of all CAA items will occur to ensure that students are being administered items of the highest statistical quality. Ongoing feedback will be solicited from classroom teachers, school administrators, and school authority administrators. These processes will help to ensure the validity of the CAA system.

An assessment can be viewed as a series of measurements (each item being a measurement) of a student’s ability in a specific content area (e.g., Mathematics 7). If a student is at a high achievement level, it is not necessary to administer items in a range in which the student does not belong (e.g., low achievement level) because the student should be 100% likely to answer all of those easy items correctly. The adaptive nature of CAA allows for the fine tuning of the assessment to determine a student's achievement level. CAA also allows for the monitoring of the confidence or measurement accuracy (in the form of a statistic called the “standard error of estimation”) of the estimate of the student's achievement level while the student is taking the assessment. This is a significant benefit of CAA over paper-and-pencil assessment, in which standard error cannot be determined until after the assessment is written. In this way, the CAA system can monitor how accurately the student’s achievement is being measured and criteria can be set in advance to obtain a specified level of measurement accuracy for each student. These criteria are based on recommendations from the academic research literature as well as the intended purpose of the CAA system (e.g., a high-stakes system would require a more conservative threshold). Some students may require a relatively small number of items in order to obtain the necessary measurement accuracy whereas other students may require more items. Maximum and minimum numbers of items are incorporated into the CAA system as well to ensure that students do not answer too many items (which would result in over-testing) or too few items (which would result in inadequate content-balancing).

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18. Will the testing-on-demand attribute of a CAA system lead to the same assessment items being so frequently administered, that the assessment is compromised?
The issue of monitoring and controlling rates of item exposure (i.e., how often items are administered to students) is a challenge that requires attention in all adaptive assessment systems. Statistical techniques such as the Sympson-Hetter method (Sympson & Hetter, 1985) or the a-Stratified method (Chang & Ying, 1999) are available to deal with this issue and are incorporated into CAA systems. Essentially, both methods seek to monitor the exposure rate of items in the item banks at various achievement levels and offer solutions to control the number of times items are administered. For example, if there is a small number of items at the “tails” of the ability continuum (most difficult items and least difficult items), those items may be exposed more frequently than items in the middle range of achievement. Based on best practices from the academic literature and on the characteristics of the initial item banks for each course at each grade, the Alberta CAA system will adopt customized approaches to control item exposure rates. In addition, ongoing reviews by experienced teachers of items within the item banks must occur.

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19. How will CAA assessment items be renewed to ensure currency and relevance?
All items within the CAA item banks will be initially reviewed by teachers for currency, relevance, and appropriateness. Items will be reviewed for currency and relevance on an ongoing basis. In addition, item exposure (how many times items have been administered) will be tracked to determine when items should be retired from the item banks. Item development will be conducted on an ongoing basis to replace items that are overexposed or are no longer current or relevant.

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Technology and security

20. What technology is required at the school level in order to participate in the CAA project?
The Alberta CAA system will be an online application; as such, the basic technology requirements at the school level will be the availability of computers, each with an Internet connection, for students. The specific minimum requirements of the CAA system can be found on page10; however, the system will be designed to function in technology environments of moderate bandwidth with basic computer hardware. The CAA system will be accessed by students via a web browser (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla Firefox). Castle Rock Research and Alberta Education will work with schools to address challenges with the technology should they arise.

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21. Where will students take the Computer Adaptive Assessment?
Students will take the CAA at computers within their schools (e.g., library, classroom, computer lab). Teachers will schedule a time for their students to take a CAA. Students will then, under the supervision of a teacher or other school staff member, log on to the CAA system and be granted access to take the assessment for a specific grade and course (e.g., Grade 7 English Language Arts). When a student finishes taking the CAA, reports will be generated.

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22. How can you ensure that assessments delivered over the Internet will be secure?
Test security is a fundamental issue with online assessment systems. Any CAA system must ensure the integrity of its item banks and the security of the examinee information captured in the assessment-taking process. This environment requires a continuous commitment to security through the use of best practices with respect to online architecture, technology, and process, as well as sensitivity to the unique challenge of CAA systems. Castle Rock Research will work with Alberta Education and the field to ensure that the CAA system is secure.

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23. How will the security of student information be ensured?
Castle Rock Research has designed and deployed several secure web sites as part of a core initiative to extend its business operations to the online world. The company’s corporate site includes a secure e-commerce platform that provides its customers with convenient online ordering of print products and online registration for diploma exam tutorials. The technology team has extensive experience in working with e-commerce enablers such as Verisign to guarantee the security and integrity of our customer’s transactions. The team has also developed a secure, asynchronous channel for routing online transactions to back-end fulfillment systems, and, in the process, addressed key security issues including confidentiality, authenticity, data integrity, and non-repudiation.

Managing and protecting the confidentiality of user information is an essential objective in the design and development of the company’s online products and services, which include THE E-KEY, INTEGRITY, and CRR Item Bank. Castle Rock Research has designed its security subsystems (authentication, access control, data integrity, information flow, and auditing) in accordance with generally accepted security strategies, such as defence in-depth, principle of least privilege, and fail-safe stance. These subsystems establish and constrain the environment in which application objectives are subsequently realized. This approach puts security first. It is also the approach that Castle Rock Research is committed to following in the delivery of all its online solutions, including the Alberta CAA system.

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CAA as a classroom assessment tool

24. How can CAA be used to complement other classroom assessment strategies?
Formative classroom assessment strategies such as quizzes and essays, performance tasks, and judgments of teachers regarding student learning are vital to the teaching and learning process and cannot be replaced. The CAA system is being designed to complement these existing assessment strategies/tools already used by teachers. The CAA system will allow teachers to access an online Alberta curriculum-specific assessment tool whenever they wish in order to assess student learning. Teachers can use the system to assess students following instruction of a course strand/topic, in order to determine how well students understood the material presented. Students who are struggling with concepts can be identified early, and instructional strategies can be implemented to assist these students. The CAA system can be used periodically throughout the year to monitor and track student progress.

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25. How will CAA improve or enhance teacher access to assessment materials?
Access to the CAA system will allow teachers to access a powerful, Alberta curriculum-specific, assessment tool. As teachers will be involved in most aspects of the CAA system, from item development/review to feedback on system performance, the CAA system will provide professional development opportunities in the area of computer-assisted assessment. The experiences gained from involvement in the development, implementation, and maintenance of the Alberta CAA system will benefit teachers in numerous ways, from improving item development techniques to learning about and using state-of-the-art assessment processes. Teachers will have full access to the Alberta CAA, as long as their school authorities participate in the project, helping them accurately assess student learning using a curriculum-specific assessment tool.

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Student assessment experience

26. Will students receive instruction on how to use the CAA system?
Before taking the actual CAA, students will receive online instruction on how to respond to assessment questions. The CAA system will be designed to be very simple to use so that an individual with little to no computer experience can take the assessment effectively. Castle Rock Research will work with students, teachers, and Alberta Education to ensure that the instructions and assessment-taking experience for students is appropriate and engaging.

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27. Are students required to solve all test items in the CAA?
In order to provide informative and accurate scores, students will be required to respond to all of the items presented. However, the handling of incomplete assessments (e.g., students who do not answer items) is an issue frequently encountered when developing CAA systems. For example, if a student begins taking the assessment and does not answer any items, it could be the case that he or she is having trouble and requires assistance. In these cases, the teacher (or test administrator) would be notified to assist the student. A practice period is required before an operational CAA begins. This practice period will help students become familiar with the testing environment and should reduce the number of students who could have problems while taking the assessment.

To address students who do not respond to items, testing time limits for the overall assessment will be used. For example, English Language Arts courses would present sets of items (e.g., five or six items) that relate to a passage. Students will have a preset period of time in which to respond to all the items in all the item sets (e.g., students will have a two-hour time limit to finish the entire CAA assessment). This time limit should be more than enough time for students to respond to all the items. However, if a student does not respond to items in the set before the time limit is reached, the system will score those items as incorrect. This methodology is similar to what would occur on a paper-and-pencil test. Students are not penalized in any way (e.g., “right minus wrong”) for not answering items or for answering items incorrectly during the CAA process.

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28. How many assessment items will be administered in the CAA?
The number of assessment items that are administered to any given student will vary based on the course, grade of the assessment, and response pattern of the student. For example, students in lower grades will not be required to answer as many items as students in higher grades. To address this issue, “stopping rules” will be established for each course at each grade so that no student will receive more than a maximum number of items (e.g., students taking a Mathematics 7 CAA may take a maximum of 55 items, at which time the assessment process would stop and they would receive a score). These stopping rules will be based on a number of considerations including total test-taking time, grade level, and Program of Studies, and will be established in consultation with Alberta teachers and Alberta Education. Minimum numbers of items needed to obtain appropriate curriculum coverage will also have to be determined. Overall assessment length will vary for any given student as the assessment will adaptively estimate each student’s achievement level. Some students may require the minimum number of items in order to obtain an accurate estimation of their achievement level, whereas other students may require the maximum number of items. The accuracy of the results for every student will be highly comparable, and no student will be disadvantaged or advantaged by responding to more or less assessment items.

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29. Can CAA be used to assess students with special needs?
Testing accommodations such as more time, larger fonts, a reader, etc. will be provided at the discretion of the teacher. Existing technological solutions can be incorporated into the CAA testing environment for students with visual impairments. Other accommodations such as longer test-taking time, an on-site reader, or a sign language interpreter can be made available through the school authority. Because CAA has the potential to offer assessments in multiple modes (i.e., sound, video, animations, etc.), testing accommodation solutions are more readily available. For example, an on-site reader may not be necessary because tools exist that can read digital text aloud to students. Castle Rock Research will work with Alberta Education, teachers, and other stakeholders to ensure that the CAA system can accommodate as many students with special needs as possible.

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Future direction

30. How will the field be involved in decision making regarding the future of CAA in Alberta schools?
Students, teachers, schools, and school authorities will be intimately involved during the item development and pilot phases of the CAA system by offering their feedback and input. Student test-taking experiences will be carefully observed to examine and evaluate the usability of the system. Experienced Alberta teachers will develop, review, and field-test items to populate the CAA system item banks. Teachers will also submit their observations of how students react to and interact with the CAA system. Castle Rock Research will work with schools and school authorities on an ongoing basis to address issues related to technology, training, and reporting. This feedback will be used to identify and address limitations of the CAA system and to ensure that the CAA system meets the needs of all stakeholder groups. The information gathered throughout the three-year project will be used to make decisions regarding the future of the CAA system.

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